Parking your car in the parking lot, you turn the engine off and take a moment to fix your bed head.
You had gotten a call this morning at 5:00am about a double child abduction in Waco, Texas and Hotch told everyone to be on the jet in an hour. You check the time on your phone: '5:45am'. After fixing your hair to the best of your ability, you grab your to-go bag and head to the jet.
As you walk onto the plane you see that Derek and Hotch are the only ones there.
"Where is everyone?" you ask as you put your things in the overhead compartment and take a seat across from Morgan.
"They should be here any minute now-" Hotch is interrupted by Reid and JJ walking onto the jet. "Morning," you say as they find their seats. "Good morning," JJ replies.
You check your watch. It's 5:55. 'I hope Emily and Rossi don't miss the flight' you think. But your doubts are set aside when Prentiss and Rossi walk in at 5:58. You turn around hearing footsteps and you make eye contact with Emily as she follows Rossi in. She looks at you for a moment, but then looks away and sets her stuff down next to Hotch.
'What if she regrets what happened? Crap, are things going to be awkward between us now?' you think to yourself. Your thoughts are interrupted, however, by Derek saying something to you.
"Hey I'm gonna go get a cup of coffee. Do you want one?" he asks. "Huh? Oh, um yes, thank you," you respond.
About 30 minutes into the flight, Hotch begins the briefing. "We were called in by Waco police after two girls went missing from a park they were playing at yesterday evening. The first victim is Sally Frietz, 7, and the second victim is her older sister Jenny Frietz, 12".
He hands you each a picture of the girls. 'Who could hurt something so innocent?' you think to yourself as you stare at the pictures.
Hotch continues: "The mother said she dropped them off at the park around 6:00 pm before heading to the grocery store to pick some things up. When she drove back to pick them up at 6:30, the girls were gone".
"That's a pretty short window of opportunity. Were there any witnesses?" Morgan asks. "No. The mother said there was a family at the park when she dropped them off, but when police spoke with them, they said they left the park at 6:10," Hotch says.
"So the unsub only had 20 minutes to abduct these girls? Why would he take the risk of being seen?" you question. "Maybe he saw the girls at the park alone and just couldn't resist," JJ suggests. "But still, how'd he manage to get the girls into his car in such a short amount of time and with no witnesses. The girls must have known him," you say.
"That's the most likely option considering only 0.1% of child abductions are carried out by strangers," Reid remarks. "Still, we shouldn't rule out the possibility," Rossi interjects.
"What about the father? Is he in the picture at all?" Emily asks. You look at her, but she doesn't return your glance. "He was working his job at a bank when the girls were abducted. The parents are separated, but the father still lives nearby," JJ says.
"How long has it been since the girls were abducted?" Morgan asks. "They've been missing for 6 hours and by the time we get there it'll be 10, so we need to get as much figured out about the case now as we can," Hotch says.
The team continues theorizing about how the unsub lured the girls into the car, discussing victimology, and ruling out family members as suspects.
When you arrive at the McGregor Executive Airport in Waco, Texas, you all rush to the police station. In 99% of child abductions, the children are killed within the first 24 hours, so you don't have time to waste.
When you walk into the police station you are greeted by a detective.
"Hi, I'm Detective Wyatt Grymes with the Waco Police Department. I'm the head detective on this case," he says, shaking each of your hands.
He leads you all into a conference room for you to work in. "I know it's small, but I hope it'll work," he says. "This'll be fine, thank you," Hotch says. "Have you called the parents in? We'd like to speak with them," JJ says. "Yeah they're in the waiting area. I'm not sure what you'll be able to find out from 'em that we don't already know though," Grymes says. "Thank you," JJ says as she follows Rossi out of the room to go question the parents.
"Reid and Clarke, I want you to go down to the abduction site. Prentiss and Morgan, I'll have you speak to the family that left the park early just to see if they remember anything else," Hotch says. You all nod your heads and you follow Reid out of the room; Detective Grymes not far behind.
Walking up to the officers at the park, you introduce yourself and Reid. You notice that the park is in the center of a neighborhood.
"Did you check with the surrounding houses to see if any of them had cameras outside their homes? These houses are so close to the park, they might have caught the incident on a security camera," you say to the officers. They begin walking over to the houses to ask the neighbors.
"Did any of these neighbors see anyone around the park over the past couple months? Anyone that felt suspicious or out of place?" Reid asks the detective. "Nobody. They said things were always pretty calm in this neighborhood. Nothing like that," Grymes responds.
"The unsub could be living or working in the area. I'm gonna call Garcia; see if there were any home installments or construction work done in the neighborhood recently," you tell Reid. He nods and you step away for a moment to make the call. You dial her number and hold your phone to your ear. It rings once.
"What can I do for you, my love?" she asks. "Hey Garcia, I need you to background check the people in the neighborhood. See if they have any red flags," you say. "Hotch already had me do that and everyone came up clean," she says. You notice something glimmering in the grass under your feet.
"Damn, okay. Before I go, I need you to see if anyone in the neighborhood surrounding the park had any work done to their home like calling in an electrician, exterminator, or plumber? It would most likely be in the houses right next to the park," you say as you crouch down to pick up the shiny object. "You got it. I'll get back to you when I have something," she says before hanging up.
You put your phone in your back pocket and pull out a latex glove so as not to contaminate the evidence. You pick up the item. It is a dainty, silver necklace that you recognize. You pull the pictures Hotch gave you of the girls out of your blazer pocket. Jenny is wearing the exact same necklace in the photo.
You walk back over to the detective and Reid. "Hey check this out. This is Jenny's necklace. Look," you point to the picture. "Where'd you find it?" Reid says. "Just over there by the bushes," you respond. Reid calls over some forensic guys to bag the necklace for evidence.
You evaluate the rest of the crime scene and don't find much. Driving back to the police station, you stare at the picture of Jenny. 'She must be so terrified right now. If she's still alive' you think to yourself.
Her hair is long, brown, and braided in the picture. She's wearing a pale pink sweater and jeans with sparkly shoes. 'She looks so happy'.
When you get back to the police station, you see Jenny and Sally's parents sitting in the waiting room again. You walk up to Morgan and mutter: "Have you not talked to them yet? What are they still doing here?".
"We spoke with them, but they refuse to leave in case we get updates on the girls," he says. You glance over at them. They look exhausted. "Did you background check the neighbors?" you ask. "Yeah. They all checked out," Morgan says as you walk with him to the conference room where the rest of the team is.
Reid updated everyone on what you both found at the crime scene while you were talking to Morgan.
"So we know that it was probably a stranger that took the girls now that all the family and friends' background checks came up empty," Hotch says. "12 and 7 are a pretty large age range for a preferential offender. So either he's a situational offender or he was only interested in one of the girls and the other one was just collateral damage to him," Emily says.
She still hasn't spoken or looked at you all day, but you've been too focused on the case to figure out why. "We know that situational child molesters fall under four categories: regressed, morally indiscriminate, sexually indiscriminate, and inadequate. The unsub probably isn't a regressed offender because they typically target children they come in contact with i'm their daily lives like family or they have a job that allows them to be close to children. Regressed offenders don't need to abduct children they don't know because they don't feel morally wrong about molesting the children in their immediate circle. So we can rule that one out," Hotch says.
"Morally and sexually indiscriminate just don't fit the way this unsub went about abducting the girls so that just leaves inadequate," Morgan says.
"So if we're looking at an inadequate, situational offender, this guy is probably a social outsider that doesn't bond easily with his peers. The unsub probably lives with his parents or one of his siblings and he would've had to have a part-time job somewhere that works with homes. I have Garcia looking into any home installments or renovations in the neighborhood recently," you say.
"If this guy is a carpenter or an electrician or an exterminator, he probably has access to a van. And we profiled that he would need a somewhat roomy vehicle to abduct the girls, especially if they were forced and not lured," Emily says. "The unsub has to be in his 30's or 40's in order to pull this off. He would have to be physically fit enough to get the girls inside the van quickly and smart enough to check for possible witnesses before abducting them," Reid remarks.
Suddenly, Detective Grymes rushes into the room and says: "We just got a call about a body found in a ditch by a hiking path". You all quickly collect your things and head to the crime scene.
When you arrive, there's a crowd of people that are being blocked by the police along with a lot of press. Thankfully, the body is in a concealed area so the press won't get much footage of it.
Hotch takes your hand and helps you down a steep slope from the path to the body. As you walk toward it, you see that it's Sally. She's positioned as if she were sleeping and she has bruising on her neck and arms.
"The way he placed her to make her look as though she's sleeping shows remorse. The killer probably feels bad about what he did. Emily might've been right about one of the girls being collateral," Morgan says.
"But if Sally was just collateral damage, why would he kill her in such a brutal way. I mean these markings on her throat and face show rage. This wasn't just a mercy killing. If Sally wasn't his target, why would he go overboard?" you question.
"Maybe she angered him. These bruises and scratches on her arms are defensive wounds. Maybe she fought back," JJ says. You feel a wave of emotion come over you after hearing JJ say that. She fought back and she still died. You try to hold in your tears. You don't want to look weak in front of the team.
"We need the coroner to test her for sexual assault," Rossi says. "God, how am I gonna tell her parents. I've known them for years. This is gonna break them," Detective Grimes says.
You watch as the coroner and paramedics pick Sally up and put her in a body bag. You feel like you might vomit as you watch and you have to turn away.
When you get back to the station, you rush to the bathroom and vomit into the toilet. You can feel yourself beginning to hyperventilate and you try to slow your breathing, but the feeling is too overwhelming. 'She's dead. A 7 year-old girl, just... gone. We should've come earlier. We could've saved her' you think.
Your thoughts swarm into your head like a hive of deadly bees. You feel like your brain is melting and you can't catch your breath. You suddenly feel like your clothes are suffocating you and you rip off your jacket. You begin to sob, not just because of Sally but because of how bad your panic attack is.
You hear someone come in. "Elizabeth? Are you in here? Hotch wants you in the conference room to-" Emily stops when she sees you on the bathroom floor, tears streaming down your face, hyperventilating.
"Hey, what's wrong? It's okay. It's alright," she says as she bends down to hold you. You hear the concern and worry in her voice. Your hyperventilating intensifies again and she takes your hands in hers.
"Hey, look at me. Look at me," she repeats as she holds your head up to look at her. "Here, count with me. Breathe in through your nose for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... and breathe out through your mouth, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5..." she keeps repeating this until you start to feel like you can catch your breath.
Once the panic attack stops you begin to sob again from relief and sadness. She holds you while you cry and you profusely apologize. "It's okay. You're okay," she says. You sit with her for a moment before slowly getting up and going to the mirror. You wash your hands and clean up your makeup. Emily stands by the door and waits for you.
Once you finish, you walk to the door to leave, but she stops you. "I know this job can be a lot. If you need to take this case off, that's okay," she says. "No, I can't leave knowing Jenny is still out there. I will not let her end up like Sally. I won't," you say, emotion clouding your voice. Emily nods and lets go of the door so you can leave.
As you walk into the conference room everyone looks up at you for a brief moment before returning to what they were doing.
"Garcia, did you find anything on what Clarke asked you about?" Hotch asks as you sit down. "Yes, there was one electrician company that went to three houses over the past two months. One of the houses was right next door to the Frietz's," Garcia says.
"What's the name?" Morgan asks. "John's Electrical Repairs," she says. "Do you have an address?" you say. "I just sent it to your phones," Garcia says. Your phone dings and you check the text. "Garcia, who were the employees that were assigned those home repairs?" Reid asks. "Give me a second... Okay! 5 different employees worked on those repairs," Garcia says. "Who worked on the repair at the Frietz's neighbor's house?" you ask. "That would be... David McClaren," she says. "Address?" Emily says. "Sending it to you guys now. He lives at his parents house," she says.
You all get up to head to the two locations. You, Emily, Hotch, and JJ go to David's parents' house while Rossi, Morgan, and Reid go to John's Electrical Repairs.
When you get to the house, Hotch knocks on the door and yells, "David McClaren! FBI! Open up!". He waits a moment.
"What are we waiting for? Kick the door in," you say. "We don't have probable cause," Hotch says.
Suddenly, you here a child's scream from inside the house. "Sounds like probably cause to me," you say angrily before kicking the door in.
When you enter, you see David holding a gun to Jenny's head.
"David, drop the gun. You don't want to do this," Emily says. Jenny is in her underwear and an oversized t-shirt. She has bruising all over her arms and legs and she's bleeding from her nose.
'This sick motherfucker' you think as you feel the terror you had felt in the bathroom transform into rage.
"You have no idea what I want. Drop your weapons or I'll shoot her," McClaren says as he grips Jenny's hair a little tighter causing her to yelp in pain. You step forward, but Emily stops you.
"Okay, okay. Here, look David. I'm putting my weapon on the ground, okay? All we want is to get Jenny out safe. She doesn't deserve this David and you know that. If you kill her, you could get a death sentence. But if you let her go, we'll tell the DA you cooperated and they might give you a deal," she says.
"I- I didn't mean to kill her. I just... I get so angry sometimes and I black out," he says.
You see Morgan through the window of the back door behind McClaren.
"I know David. But if you kill Jenny, there's no coming back from that," Emily says as she takes another step towards him. Derek is almost to him and McClaren's hand moves from Jenny's hair to her shoulder.
Derek tackles David and Jenny yanks herself free and runs to you. You hug her and tell her that everything is going to be okay while Derek arrests McClaren. You take off your jacket and put it around her before picking her up and walking out the front door.
"Do you wanna see your Mom and Dad?" you ask her. She nods. You go with her in the ambulance and when you arrive at the hospital, her parents are waiting for her. She runs to them and they hug her. You watch them from across the hall and feel yourself begin to tear up. For a moment, you forget about everything else and you smile watching them embrace each other. You had forgotten what it was like to have a family, even one as broken as theirs.
Author's Note: Hey, so I know this chapter was kinda choppy and the writing wasn't all that good. I've been really busy with homework and I just don't have time to rewrite it lol.